Top 5 Facts about Leap Years
Are you jumping for joy?
It’s Leap Day !!
(CNN) – Leap day occurs every four years, adding an extra day to the end of February.Leap day keeps our calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun. (Source: CNN)
It keeps our calendar in alignment with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun.
Leap day has inspired traditions and superstitions.
In many European countries, any man who refuses a woman’s proposal must buy her 12 pairs of gloves.
People in Greece say that it’s unlucky to marry during a leap year, especially on leap day.
Leap day has played a role in pop culture, too.
The 2010 film “Leap Year” follows an American woman flying to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on February 29.
There have even been a few leap day-themed TV shows, including a 2012 “30 Rock” episode that featured a character called “Leap Day William,” who emerges every four years to trade children’s tears for candy.
Happy Leap Year of 2020!
A silly little 20 Second Song about the rarest and most magical day on the calendar.
Leap year Myths, or Facts in HQ
2020 is a leap year, which means we get to enjoy a whole extra day of February, and people born on February 29 finally get some presents.
But why do we even have leap years?
Our calendar has 365 days in a year, because that's pretty much how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. The problem is that in reality it takes the Earth around 365 ¼ days (actually 365.24219 days) to circle the Sun (that's a solar year), which means our calendar is out by around a quarter of a day a year.
That discrepancy was spotted a while back.
In 45 B.C. a decree by Julius Caesar began the practice of adding an extra day every four years, with the creation of the Julian calendar -- making up for those quarter days.
That would be perfect if a solar year were exactly 365 ¼ days -- but 365.242 is a teeny bit less than that, and over time that teeny bit adds up.
By 1582 A.D. that slight discrepancy in the Julian calendar added up to 10 days. So Pope Gregory XIII created the Gregorian calendar, coined the term "leap year" and established February 29 as the official date to add to a leap year. He also introduced a rule to take into account the discrepancy in the Julian calendar.
Now, a leap year occurs in every year that is divisible by four, but only in century years that are evenly divided by 400.
Therefore, 800, 1200 and 2000 were leap years - but 1700 and 1900 were not, because even though they are divisible by four, they are not divisible by 400.
Leap Year
20 Second Song
What is a Leap Year?
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Thinking Captain
In a standard year, there are 365 days but typically every four years, something different happens and we have another day added. A leap year is when we have 366 days rather than 365. This additional day is added into the shortest month of February giving it 29 days instead of its usual 28 February 29 is aptly named Leap Day.
Happy Leap Year of 2020!
